SMALL PROJECT - Using oddments

Like most knitters, I have a guilty hoard of oddments from a host of finished projects. There is virtually every type of yarn, in every colour of the rainbow, often in a substantial enough quantity that the thought of throwing it away . . . well, it doesn't bear thinking about.

So when I discover a project that isn't a sock yarn blanket (I never finished those), or baby hats, bootees, wash cloths or dare I say it - hexipuffs, I get a rush of relief. The thought of liberating some unloved yarn ends and finding them a purpose always makes me feel so worthy!

The Bokstav Gift Tags from Winter Knitting are the perfect oddment-busting project. This lovely little project just ticks so many boxes for me - it's small and quick; uses up even the sparest of yarn ends; is Christmas related and will dress up parcels for my most special people with the added bonus that I can reuse them every year.

You might imagine that I have rather a lot of MillaMia oddments . . . and you'd be right! But the ones that came instantly to hand were the Midnight and Snow Naturally Soft Merino that I had left over from making the Snow Storm Wristwarmers. I did finish these in record time and immediately gifted them to Helena, who so ably demonstrates just how stylish they are teamed with a fake fur jacket.

Helena sporting her Snow Storm Wristwarmers in Midnight and Snow

The gift tags are super quick to knit and use between 7 and 10 grms of yarn in total. The pattern advises that the alphabet motifs are swiss darned (or duplicate stitched) on, but you could easily use the chart to knit them as you go. I swiss darned mine to achieve the slightly raised look which I'm really pleased with. The tags are incredibly tactile when they're finished - as they are made from 2 pieces stitched together to make them reversible it makes them plump and substantial. I used a whip stitch to seam them together which is almost invisible and then gently blocked and steamed them to even all the stitches out.

 

 

 

I have finished 2, and have another one on the needles for my daughter. They're really quite addictive - so quick and instantly gratifying that I fear I may decide that every gift I give this year has to have one . . .

Winter Knitting is available from www.millamia.com, selected MillaMia stockists and good craft title bookstores.

(posted by Max)